1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a stacked connector assembly, and in particular to a stacked connector assembly having components with simplified structure.
2. Related Arts
Electrical connectors are widely used in a variety of electronic or electrical devices for providing electrical connection between separate electrical components. The current trend of miniaturization of electrical/electronic appliances requires the footprints of the electrical connectors on a printed circuit board (PCB) to be minimized. A solution to the minimization of footprint is to stack a number of connectors in an upright pile. An example is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,162,089 wherein a xe2x80x9cModular Jackxe2x80x9d type connector is stacked over two xe2x80x9cUSB (Universal Serial Bus)xe2x80x9d type connectors. A common housing to both the Modular Jack and the USB connectors is formed and cavities are defined in the common housing for receiving and retaining contacts of the Modular Jack and USB connectors. A disadvantage associated with the common housing configuration is that the structure and manufacture of the housing is inevitably sophisticated.
Furthermore, since the housing is common to both Modular Jack and USB connectors, the housing must be entirely disposed even only one of the Modular Jack and the USB connectors is damaged. This inevitably increases the manufacturing costs.
In addition, high frequency transmission requires EMI shielding be formed between Modular Jack and USB connectors in order to enhance quality of transmission.
It is thus desired to have a stacked connector assembly having separate housings for overcoming the above problems.
Thus, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a stacked connector assembly comprising two connector devices having separate housings for simplifying the manufacture thereof.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a stacked connector assembly comprising two connector devices having individual housings for enhancing manufacturing process and lowering down costs.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a stacked connector assembly comprising two connector devices electromagnetically shielded with respect to each other in order to reduce electromagnetic interference therebetween.
To achieve the above objects, in accordance with the present invention, there is provided a stacked connector assembly comprising a first connector device and a second connector device stacked on the first connector device. The first connector device comprises an insulative housing retaining first conductive contacts therein. The second connector device comprises a second insulative housing retaining second conductive contacts therein. An inner shielding member encompasses the first connector device and is partially sandwiched between the first and second housings. The first housing has a top face in which two slots are defined. The slots are spaced from each other a predetermined distance and each has a side wall opposite to each other. The second housing has a bottom face positioned on the top face of the first housing with the inner shielding member partially sandwiched therebetween. Two sets of retention projections are formed on the bottom face of the second housing for extending through holes defined in the inner shielding member and frictionally engaging the side walls of the slots of the first housing, forming interferential engagement therebetween to retain the housings together. Light beam guiding strips are mounted to a top face of the second housing for guiding and projecting light beam emitting from light emitting diodes mounted to a rear face of the second housing. An outer shielding member encompasses both the first and second connector devices.
The above and other objects and advantages of the present invention can be better understood by reading the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: